This application claims the priority of German application 101 39 592.2, filed Aug. 11, 2001, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a holding system for a pedal of a motor vehicle which can be connected by way of a stationary console with a cross member of a vehicle body.
A pedal arrangement for a motor vehicle is known from German Patent Document DE 195 01 859 A1. The pedal arrangement is connected by way of a bearing block with a support element of a vehicle body and is swivellably held therein. Furthermore, a bearing element which is connected with a vehicle body and in which a brake pedal is swivellably disposed is known from European Patent Document EP 0 873 923 1.
It is an object of the invention to provide a holding system for a pedal of a motor vehicle which, in the event of a crash, largely avoids pedal movement into the vehicle interior.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by constructing a pedal receiving device in two parts, having a bearing element arranged in the console, swivellably disposing the pedal in the bearing element, and holding the bearing element by an adjusting device and a fixing device in an initial position and so that it is arranged in a crash position relatively displaceably against the driving direction with respect to the stationary console. Additional advantageous characteristics are reflected in the claims.
A principal advantage achieved by the invention is that pedal migration into the vehicle interior or into the interior compartment of the vehicle is prevented in the event the vehicle crashes. For this purpose, the pedal receiving device of the system is constructed in two parts and has a bearing element arranged in the console. The pedal is swivellably disposed in the bearing element, with the bearing element being held by a joint adjusting and fixing device in an initial position. In a crash position, the bearing element is arranged relatively displaceably against the driving direction with respect to the stationary console. The pedal is taken along such that it can move in the driving direction out of the vehicle interior.
By way of the two-shell uncoupling pedal receiving device, in the event of a crash, with an adjusting and fixing device, on one hand, in the initial position, a firm fit is ensured in the console. On the other hand, in the crash position, displaceability of the bearing element is ensured without a significant migration of the pedal into the vehicle interior.
The console is preferably constructed in the shape of a U-profile in which a U-profile-shaped bearing element is held in an embedded manner. The bearing element is both swivellable in the crash position by way of the adjusting device and held in a detachable manner with respect to the console by way of the fixing device. As a result of the construction and arrangement of the console and of the bearing element, a stable pedal bearing, which is held together after a crash despite displacement of the bearing element, is achieved.
The adjusting device includes a displacement bolt guided in a guiding slot of the bearing element. The displacement bolt is held in the console while permitting a superimposed longitudinal and swivelling movement of the bearing element against the driving direction. As a result, the bearing element is advantageously displaced on the bolt so that, by way of the bearing element, the pedal is moved out of the vehicle interior back into the driving direction. The danger of injury, to the vehicle occupant can thus be avoided.
The bearing element has at least one hook part provided on a rearward-side web part of the bearing element so that, in the event of a crash, the bearing element can detach from the console. In an initial position, the at least one hook part reaches in a latching manner over an opposite web part or web wall of the console. The hook part can be unlatched in the crash position. Unlatching of the at least one hook part from the web wall of the console can take place by a tearing-off of the hook part in the event of a crash, so that the bearing element comes free of the console. The type of displaceability or the movement of the bearing element with respect to the console depends on the length of the guiding slot in the bearing element. This guiding slot may be straight, curved, or of a different shape, corresponding to the desirable displaceability, such that the bearing element can correspondingly move in the event of a crash against the driving direction while taking the disposed pedal along in the driving direction and, therefore, out of the vehicle interior.
In particular, the adjusting element is disposedxe2x80x94with respect to the driving directionxe2x80x94in a forward lower area of the console and the bearing element. The displacement bolt is preferably arranged at a distance from the swivelling axis of the pedal and approximately in a horizontal plane with this swivelling axis. The console is held on at least one forwardxe2x80x94with respect to the driving directionxe2x80x94web area facing away from the bolt in a clamped-in manner in the initial position between the hook parts and a shaped-out area of the bearing element. As a result of this local arrangement of the adjusting device, essentially consisting of a guiding slot and a bolt, the bearing element can swivel against the driving direction or be displaced within the limits of the vehicle slot. The pedal swivellably held in the bearing element is in this case advantageously moved in the driving direction.
The pedal is preferably provided for a foot parking brake in a right-hand drive vehicle. In this case, mounting takes place from the front, because assemblies are provided laterally of the pedal receiving device.
An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawings and will be described in detail.